Hikaru's Student
by Kinny Riddle
Summary: Hikaru has finally found Sai reincarnated...as a girl. To get her to be his student, Hikaru must meet the gruelling demands of her father. (Chapter 4 added) MILD Shonen-ai, on Akira's side.
1. Sai Reincarnated?

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go is the copyright of Hotta Yumi and Obata Takeshi, Shueisha and TV Tokyo, This is a fanfiction and is not to be used for commercial purposes.

Hikaru's Student 

By Ching Mak (ching_mak@hotmail.com)

Translated and edited by Kinny Riddle

Beta-read by Hieronymus (hieronymus@sbcglobal.net)

**Translator's foreword: **This fanfic is my first post on FF.N, it's translated with permission from the Chinese fanfic by the hilarious Ching Mak. If you can read Chinese, I strongly recommend you to read the original fanfic found in his website. It contains various Hikaru no Go and Hunter X Hunter fanfics and fancomics. Special thanks to Hieronymus for beta-reading this fic.

Notes: Italics mean the character is thinking the sentence instead of speaking them out, as well as sound effects.

Chapter 1: Sai Reincarnated? 

   It has been many years since Shindo Hikaru met Sai in his dreams and received his fan, and now he has just defeated Kurata to win his second title, and his strength now matches his rival, Touya Akira. These two are known as the Twin Dragons of Go in Japan, with Hikaru being the Black Dragon and Akira being the White. (Go watch Hayo Miyazaki's _Spirited Away _and you'll know why.) Currently, Hikaru works part-time as a teacher in various Go classes for children, including being assistant teacher to the Inseis and sponsors many children Go tournaments. Hikaru is usually seen playing with different children in these tournaments, and he does this all for one purpose: to find out if Sai has reincarnated. For many years, he had wished that Sai was reincarnated so that he could meet him again. His apartment is full of books with kifus about Honinbo Shusaku, it's like a mini Shusaku library, he even had custom made Sai dolls and a portrait of Sai, drawn by an artist hired by Hikaru who described Sai's features for him.

………………………………….

One afternoon, as Hikaru returns home after work in the Go Association, he saw a young girl eating ice cream at the corner and didn't pay much attention. When he turned around to look at the girl, he was suddenly shocked and just stood there staring at her. For the girl had long dark hair, and she looked exactly like Sai; however, she was much shorter than Sai.

   Hikaru thought to himself, _"Could she be…Sai? I just had a strange feeling that this girl is Sai reincarnated. There's only one way to find out."_

   As Hikaru walks slowly towards the girl, the girl also notices Hikaru's presence, and turned around to see a man with a weird smile approaching her. Hikaru saw her looking at him and smiled at her, "Hey! What's a little girl doing here alone in the streets? Would you like a present? How about some sweets? Or maybe dolls? Or even board games?" To the bystander, Hikaru would sound completely like a perverted sicko, which was the conclusion the girl reached.

   "I'm waiting for my dad to fetch me home after piano lessons. Who are you anyway? Are you one of those bad men who kidnap little girls and do bad things to them?"

**Hikaru:** "NO! Of course not! It's just that, I want to play a game of Go with you, because I know you're born with a talent in the game."

**Girl: **"Can you tell whether someone is talented in Go just by their appearances? I don't believe you!"

**Hikaru: **"Look, I only need to play a game with you, and then I'll buy anything you want. I promise!"

**Girl: **"But dad told me not to accept anything from strangers."

**Hikaru: **"I'll buy you a year's worth of Jump!"

**Girl: **"Really?! OK! I'll go with you, but you must keep your promise!"

**Hikaru: **_She sure agrees quickly. _"I know of a Go Salon nearby, it belongs to my friend's father, why don't we go there? Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Shindo Hikaru, a Go professional, what's your name?"

**Girl: **"My name's Kishimoto Sae."

**Hikaru: **_She even has a similar name to Sai…could this be fate? But where have I heard of Kishimoto before?_

**Girl: **"My dad finishes work in about an hour, so I gotta go back to my waiting place by then."

   After a while, they arrived at Akira's Go Salon. After greeting with Ichikawa, who still works there, they went to a quiet corner. As Hikaru sits down, he asks, "Have you ever played Go before?"

**Sae: **"Nope! This is my first time. There's a Goban in my living room, but my dad doesn't allow me to play. He said he was too into Go, and as a result couldn't get into Tokyo University."

**Hikaru: **"I see…Anyway! I'm sure you'll fall in love with the game once you play it. Let's start with an even game, you use white! Just place the stones wherever you like!"

   And so Hikaru gave Sae a brief explanation of Go and started playing right away. In the beginning, Sae seems to be copying Hikaru's moves, and Hikaru showed signs of disappointment, but as the game progresses, he started to realize something was happening. _"She's placing them in places where Sai would normally place them, could she have been affected by her previous life's memories?"_

   Upon entering mid-game, Hikaru was even more amazed. _"Even though this is her first time playing, she has started to stop me connecting. Even if she isn't Sai reincarnated, she definitely is a Go prodigy!" _Even though this was a Shidou-Go* game, and Hikaru had held his strength back, Sae doesn't show any signs of being at a disadvantage. The game remained even. It was at this moment Hikaru placed a critical stone, and thought, _"There is only one way out of my formation. If she really is Sai, she will place it where I think she'll place it." Pachi! _Sae elegantly placed a stone on the board right on the spot where Hikaru was watching, and then she waited for Hikaru's turn.

   "It's your turn now!" She said impatiently after waiting for a while, but as she looked up, she saw tears flowing from Hikaru's eyes.

   "Shindo-nisan…?"

   Hikaru was completely moved to tears. _"It's him! She is Sai reincarnated! Just by seeing her play, no! Just by her appearance, I knew she is definitely Sai!" _After more than an hour or so, the game finished with Hikaru winning by a large margin.

**Hikaru: **(looks at clock) "Damn! It's past seven already, looks like I'll have to buy your manga another day."

**Sae: **"It's alright. Man, that sure was a fun game, now I know why dad was so into it. But I still lost by ten and a half moku…"

**Hikaru: **"Haha…well, that's only Shidou-Go, but to be able to count the territory in your first game is amazing enough. We should play more often."

**Sae: **"Why is it I have a feeling that I've played with you before even when this is my first game?"

**Hikaru: **_There's no doubt she is Sai…_

   When they walked back to Sae's waiting place, Sae's father was already there waiting impatiently, worrying where his daughter has gone off to. Sae immediately ran towards him, "Dad! I'm here!"

**Sae's dad: **"Sae, where have you gone off to? (Sees Hikaru) Shindo??"

**Hikaru: **"Do you know me? You must have read Weekly Go."

**Sae's dad: **"Don't you remember me at all?! I'm Kaio's first captain in the Junior High Go Tournament! You played with me before!"

**Hikaru: **"You?! (Shocked) You're Sae's father?"

**Kishimoto: **"Ever since I quit becoming an Insei, I concentrated on my studies. But it was too little too late, and as a result I couldn't get into Tokyo University. So now I'm stuck with this job as a petty sales clerk. Anyway, what are you doing here with my daughter?"

**Hikaru: **"Oh, I went to play a game of Go with her. Look, your daughter is a born Go genius, you gotta let me tutor her one-on-one. Let her come to my place to play everyday, let her…"

   _POW! _The next thing Hikaru knew was that he was beaten by Kishimoto's fist and fell on the ground. "I never want to hear about this stupid game anymore, and you better leave my daughter out of this! Let's go home, Sae!" As they walked away, Hikaru slowly crawled up, thinking, _"Just you wait. I WILL get Sae to be my student, then I'll have her wear a Heian costume and carry a fan, and have her sweep the Go world! MWA-HAHAHAHA!!!!!"_

………………………………….

   And so, day after day, Hikaru is seen lurking around Kishimoto's house, only to be chased away by Kishimoto's baseball bat. But still Hikaru lurked in the shadows, refusing to go away until he has met Sae.

   One night, as Hidaka (Kishimoto's wife, former girls' first captain at Kaio) opened the curtains she saw someone sinister standing behind a lamppost. She turned to her husband and said, "That stalker still won't go away, I thought you've called the police to chase him away already."

**Kishimoto: **"What can the police do? Charge him for loitering? Don't worry! He's a title-holder, soon the media will get hold of this incident."

**Hidaka: **"I don't care! Just call the cops already! He's freaking me out!"

   In the following week, Hikaru's face can not only be seen on the cover of Weekly Go, but also on all the major tabloids.

GO TITLE HOLDER IN PEDOPHILE SCANDAL 

   The holder of two Go titles, Shindo Hikaru 9-dan, is currently being investigated by police in a stalking incident. Police sources have reported that Shindo has been harassing the household of a 9-year-old girl in the name of giving her Go lessons. The incident has shocked many parents who sent their kids to Shindo's Go classes for children. They are now boycotting lessons and urging other parents to not enroll their kids into his class. There are already calls for his resignation from the Go Association. So far the Japan Go Association and Shindo himself has refused to comment on the situation.

   In a dark room in the Go Association building, Hikaru is being interrogated by the Go Association officials and tournament sponsors concerning the "stalker incident".

**Go Association official: **(Throws the tabloid at Hikaru, in which Hikaru coolly avoids) " Do you know how embarrassing this incident is to the Go Association? You and Touya are labeled as the Go world's 'Twin Dragons', we even printed posters and calendars of you two! Do you know how much female Go fans we're gonna lose because of this incident?"

**Sponsor: **"If this gets any worse, we'll just have to cancel our contract with you on your merchandise, including that 'Sai's Hand of God kifu collection'."

**Hikaru: **_That book never really sold well anyway, thanks to you guys. _"What did I do wrong? I just found out about her talent in Go and wished to tutor her."

**Official: **"Well her parents don't agree and you shouldn't trouble yourself with it anymore. So stay away from that girl! If there's anymore news concerning this 'stalker incident', we will have no choice but to expel your membership and ban you from all tournaments."

   After the interrogation, Hikaru walks home, still felling pissed off. _"They just don't understand, if Sae doesn't play Go, then it'll be a great loss to the Go world. Anyway, if she really is Sai, she will know the fun of playing Go and will eventually find a way to play without her parents knowing. Sooner or later, she'll be begging to see me. Just you guys wait."_

_To be continued…_

Note:

Shidou-Go – Teaching Go


	2. The Impossible Condition

**Disclaimer:** Hikaru no Go is the copyright of Hotta Yumi and Obata Takeshi, Shueisha and TV Tokyo. This is a fanfiction and is not to be used for commercial purposes

Hikaru's Student 

By Ching Mak (ching_mak@hotmail.com)

Translated and edited by Kinny Riddle 

Beta-read by Hieronymus (hieronymus@sbcglobal.net)

**Translator's foreword:** This fanfic is translated with permission from the Chinese fanfic by Ching Mak. If you can read Chinese, I strongly recommend you to read the original fanfic found at his website. His website contains various hilarious Hikaru no Go and Hunter X Hunter fanfics and fancomics. Special thanks to Hieronymus for volunteering to beta-read the fic.****

**Notes:** Italics are used for thoughts and sound effects.

**Chapter 2: The Impossible Condition**

  Since the pedophile incident, Hikaru no longer lingers around Kishimoto's house every day, but he still visits their house every Sunday night, in the hope of changing Kishimoto's mind. One Sunday, Kishimoto opened the door before Hikaru could even ring the doorbell, and instead of beating him up with a baseball bat, Kishimoto invited him into the living room. Once Hikaru sat down, Kishimoto gave him a cup of tea. (Hikaru didn't dare drink it, fearing it would be poisoned.) Hidaka could be seen helping Sae with her homework on the other side of the living room. Just when Hikaru started wondering whether this was a trap, Kishimoto said, "You once told me that Sae looks just like a friend and teacher of yours called Sai, and this Sai has passed away, and you have reason to believe that Sae is his reincarnation. Am I right?"

**Hikaru: "Yes, that's right!"**

**Kishimoto: "But you also said this friend of yours has never taken a photograph before, only a portrait of him exists. I find this hard to believe, didn't his parents ever take a photograph of him? And you have no proof whatsoever of his existence. Are you even sure this Sai exists?"**

**Hikaru: _I might as well just tell him that 'I see dead people'. "_Believe it or not! The point is that Sae has a talent in Go and it would be a waste if she doesn't study Go. Do you know that hiring even a low dan professional player to tutor Go is very expensive? Some title-holders like Ogata and Touya have too big of an ego to even get them hired. Yet as a title-holder, I'm willing to tutor your daughter for free! You decide the time and place, and I'll be there!"**

**Kishimoto: "Who cares whether a pedophile like you is a title-holder or not? But concerning Sae being the Go genius of the century, is that really true?"**

**Hikaru: "Definitely! If you let me tutor her, I promise that in four years, no, in two years, she'll become a pro!"**

**Kishimoto: "Sigh…is this in our blood? Even though I tried to dissuade her from playing Go…"**

**Hikaru: _Oh, puh-leeaaassseee! It's not as if my parents are talented in Go either. Even that bastard Iijima could beat an Insei Group 2 guy like you, I just hope your bastardized DNA doesn't affect Sae's intelligence!_**

**Kishimoto:** "Right now the Go scene is affected by the poor economy as well, pro players nowadays receive little in their games, and the Go manga published years ago is no longer popular anymore, I really wouldn't want my daughter going into this business. But seeing as you're so enthusiastic, I've decided to give you a chance, I don't care whether you want to be Sae's teacher or even propose to her, you'll have my blessings provided you meet the conditions I set out."

**Hikaru: "I'll agree to anything if I get to teach Sae!"**

**Kishimoto: "Very well. Right now, the time is 8.00 pm, on December 20th. At this time next year, from the Kisei, Honinbo, Meijin, Judan and Oza tournaments, I want you to win four out of these five tournaments. Then you will have met my conditions. You already carry two titles, just take two more and you'll succeed!"**

**Hikaru: "But…but I just lost to Ogata on the right to challenge Touya for the Oza title. Their best of five game starts next week. There's no way I could win the Oza title by this time next year."**

**Kishimoto: "Well, that's too bad! But I believe you still have a chance, just take away Touya's most precious Meijin title, knock Ogata off the Judan title, which he has stubbornly held on to for so long, and defend your Kisei and Hononbo titles, and you'll still get four titles. If you have any problems with that, then you can go to hell."**

After some serious thought, Hikaru said grimly, "Very well…"

Kishimoto then added, "One more thing, if you do not meet my conditions by this time next year, not only will you be forbidden from seeing Sae again, I want you to…(evil grin)…"

Hikaru suddenly had a very bad feeling about where this was going.  "You want me to…what?"

**Kishimoto: "You know the place where they hold concerts and some of the Go tournaments?"**

**Hikaru: "The Tokyo City Hall? They have a capacity of up to 10,000. There'll be an audience watching as you play, and the game will be shown live on TV as well."**

**Kishimoto: "Yes. If you fail to meet my conditions, the next time when you play there, I want you to wear nothing, on live TV, besides some tight leather underwear which I will provide!"**

Hikaru became petrified after hearing this, and Hidaka and Sae were bemused by this idea thinking, "_I didn't know he had such a sense of humor._"

Kishimoto continued, "Well? If you cannot agree, then get out of our sight!"

Hikaru took a while before gritting his teeth and said, "OK! I agree!" and left the house without saying anything.

Kishimoto thought to himself: "_Many years ago I said in front of his face that he would never become an Insei, but not only did he become an Insei, he became pro at his first attempt. Now would be the chance for me to one-up him! Even if he's currently the strongest in Japan, Touya is on par with him and will definitely take one or two titles from him. It'll be impossible to win four titles in one year. MWA-HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!_"

  On his way home, Hikaru thought to himself, "_This has got to be the most difficult and harsh condition ever set, so far only Touya's old man had the record of holding five titles at once. The titles are won and lost between me and Touya, and yet I only had up to three titles in my peak. Unless I can progress at a rapid rate, I will never get four titles. When I first started Go, I progressed at an alarming rate, even I was surprised how far I went, let alone Touya, but since then my progress had slowed down. I need a breakthrough! Ever since Sai gave me his fan in that dream, I've always wanted to create my own distinct style…_"

  A few days later, Touya Akira came to his father's Go Salon for a visit. Upon entering, he saw a girl arguing with Ichikawa. The girl was none other than Sae, who as Hikaru expected, felt like playing Go, and decided to come to the same Go Salon herself before Kishimoto came to pick her up.

**Sae: "I didn't know I had to pay! But I haven't got any money with me!"**

**Ichikawa: "I'm really sorry, but I can let you watch other people play, though."**

Akira walked over and said, "Ichikawa-san, since it's her first time here, why not let her play for free?"

**Ichikawa: "Well, if Akira-kun says so, then I'll let her off the hook, but this isn't the first time she's been here, it was Shindo-kun who brought her here the first time."**

Akira suddenly became jealous for no obvious reasons, _Could she be the girl in that 'pedophile incident'? He turned to Sae and asked, "Why don't we play a game? Have you played Go before?"_

**Ichikawa: "Last time Shindo-kun spent ten minutes explaining the rules to her and then started playing already."**

**Sae: "That's right! I've played a game once!"**

**Akira: "In that case, I'll play Shidou-Go with you then. _Why is it that I have a bad feeling about this game? Please don't tell me she's just as strong as Shindo when he first played me!"_**

As they played, Akira started to think, "_There's no rhythm in her moves, yet, for some reasons, I felt like playing with someone familiar…like 'sai'…NO! Dammit! I'm having these hallucinations about 'sai' again!!"_

  As Akira played with Sae longer, he started to notice Sae's talent. _Is this really her second Go game? Shindo sure has some amazing instinct. It took me one year learning from my father to get to this standard, and as for that bastard son of Ogata-san's, I taught him for one year and he still couldn't beat an average old man at the Go Salon._"

The game ended with Akira winning by a few moku, but since this is Shidou-Go, Akira gets to control the result. Despite that, Akira seemed to have a strange sense of relief and satisfaction. _That's strange. This is the first time I've played her, yet I feel like I've finally beaten an opponent that I've been trying to chase for so long…like finally being able to beat 'sai'…OH NO! Not again!_

 As Sae prepared to leave, Akira gave her his phone number, and said, "If you want to learn Go, you can always come to my study group, I'll teach you for free." Then Akira also started to leave, when Ichikawa said, with her face reddened, "Akira-kun, I'm not young anymore, and my parents are asking me to marry quickly, why don't you…"

Akira immediately changed the subject, "Er, I've got to go back to do some warm up with my Oza defense match with Ogata tomorrow, we'll talk about this next time! _You really are getting old, father would kill me if I were to marry an older woman like you._"

  As time passed, Akira successfully defeated Ogata and defended his Oza title, and had managed to challenge Hikaru for the Kisei title. However, Hikaru was still struggling to find a breakthrough in his style, and couldn't concentrate in his games. In the end, Akira won the best of seven series match by 4-1 and took his third title. It now seemed impossible for Hikaru to win four out of five titles now, with two titles out of the bag. After the game, Hikaru sat there petrified, contemplating at the possibility of wearing a tight underwear in front of 10,000 people and live on national television. He shivered at the thought of it.

_To be continued…_


	3. The Fight Begins

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go is the copyright of Hotta Yumi and Obata Takeshi, Shueisha and TV Tokyo. This is a fanfiction and is not to be used for commercial purposes

**Hikaru's Student**

By Ching Mak (ching_mak@hotmail.com)

Translated and edited by Kinny Riddle 

Beta-read by Hieronymus (hieronymus@sbcglobal.net) 

Translator's foreword: This fanfic is translated with permission from the Chinese fanfic by Ching Mak. If you can read Chinese, I strongly recommend you to read the original fanfic found at his website. His website contains various hilarious Hikaru no Go and Hunter X Hunter fanfics and fancomics. Special thanks to Hieronymus for beta reading this chapter.

**Notes:** Italics are used for thoughts and sound effects.

**Chapter 3: The Fight Begins******

  One April afternoon, Sae waited at the street after piano lessons for her father to pick her up as usual, unbeknownst to her, someone was spying on her from the opposite lingerie shop, this sinister figure was none other than Shindo Hikaru, who had discovered the best place to spy on Sae without getting himself noticed by Kishimoto.

  For weeks now Hikaru has spied on Sae, finding out that she only has piano lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays and would come out and wait at around 4 pm. Even though Hikaru had promised Kishimoto not to see Sae until he has fulfilled the conditions, he decided he could not wait anymore this day, for he had something for Sae.

   Sae, noticed Hikaru walking out of the lingerie store, and was none the less surprised, "Shindo-nisan? What are you doing here? I thought you promised my dad not to see me till you've won four titles."

Hikaru sighed and said, "Well, right now I'm tied 2-2 with Ogata in the Judan finals, but even if I win, I would still be short of four titles. I promised I would buy a whole year's worth of Jump for you, but your father would probably throw them away, so I bought this instead." He went into his pocket and pulled out a Nintendo GameBoy AdvanceTM  with a game cartridge inside, but Sae noticed something else fell out of his pocket and blushed profusely, "Shindo-nisan…what's…that?" When Hikaru looked at what he dropped, he instantly went horrified, for it was a black bra. Hikaru didn't feel comfortable hanging around in a lingerie store and not buying anything, so he decided to buy one anyway. (The shop assistants are still think he's a pervert, though, whether he buys any lingerie or not.) Hikaru instantly stuffed the bra back in his pocket and said, "Oh, that's nothing. Hahahaha… (Changes subject) Well, this handheld device may be outdated, but this is the only decent Go game that I can find anywhere, it's a game based on some manga in Jump some years ago, I can't remember it's name though."

**Sae:** "Oh! I know there's a popular manga right now called _Hikaru no Shougi, it's about a boy who has a talent in Shougi and becomes pro. Maybe this is a spin-off of that series you mentioned."_

**Hikaru:** "I think I heard of that manga before, the protagonist even has the same name as I do, wonder if they got inspiration from me? Hmmm… But anyway, I don't think I can ever teach you Go anymore, so please play this game often, but make sure your father never finds out."

**Sae:** "Shindo-nisan…Do you really have to wear those…?"

**Hikaru:** "Hahaha…I guess I'll worry about that till December, then maybe I'll kill myself, then I'll be able to possess you as a ghost and we'll be able to play often."

   Hikaru returned home after parting with Sae, and in his mailbox, he found a notice for the dates of the next Meijin league games and the challenger for his Honinbo title, which turned out to be Kurata. "Thank goodness it's Kurata and not Touya, or I would be losing two titles in a row. But even if I retain the Honinbo title, it'll still be too late. (Sigh)" He then noticed some of the dates for the Honinbo final games seemed to be delayed by one week or so. Puzzled, he rang the Go Association up.

**Go Association spokesman:** "Well, since like yourself, Kurata-sensei is busy for both the Meijin league games and Honinbo finals, we discovered some of his games may clash at the same date, so we had to delay some of the Honinbo final games at Kurata-sensei's request. Would that be a problem for you, Shindo-sensei?"

A realization suddenly dawned on Hikaru, "_That's it! Why haven't I thought of it before? I could request to change the dates of the finals. That way it'll still be possible for me to win the Oza title before December 20th, even though it's gonna be extremely difficult, but it's now or never." He asked the spokesman, "Is it possible to request dates for final matches to be moved forward?"_

**Spokesman:** "Well, yes, provided you could have a non-personal reason, like a clash of dates. If it's for medical reasons, you would have to produce a doctor's letter."

Hikaru frowned at that answer and thought, "_How am I going to get a clash of dates? I don't remember any tournaments that I have to participate in December other than the Oza tournament."_

  The following week, Hikaru, still kindled by the hope that he could yet win four titles by December 20th, stepped into the Yuugen Room (Room of Profound Darkness) in the Go Association building, for the final game of the Judan finals. Before the match, Ogata said to Hikaru in private, "You would have to crawl over my dead body to snatch this precious title of mine, Shindo-kun. I've successfully held off many challengers, let's just say it's a habit I adopted from old man Kuwabara. Not even "sai" will stop me."

**Hikaru:** "Then I'm afraid you would have to prepare for your funeral, for 'sai' will come back to haunt you today."

A cold sweat fell on Ogata's forehead, "_He wasn't that enthusiastic in the last game."_

After an intense battle in which only Hotta Yumi can describe, since this author himself is crap at Go, Hikaru had finally become the first person to snatch the Judan title from Ogata ever since he won it from Touya Koyou.

  At the post match conference, Ogata commented, "Shindo-kun used to not give a damn on whether he won a title or not, since he's only "enjoying himself", as he used to say, but today, he possesses this hunger that I have not seen from him before, and I reckon he is going to be a tough opponent in the foreseeable future."

  As May arrived, Hikaru began his defence of the Honinbo title with Kurata, while participating in the Meijin league and progressing steadily in the Oza tournaments. 

Hikaru was in a favourable position in the Meijin league, he only needed to win three more games in order to become challenger to the Meijin title-holder, his nemesis, Akira. 

First came his old Insei friend, Waya Yoshitaka 6-dan, who had been progressing steadily and was regarded as a top player, though nowhere as strong as the title holders. Waya was desperate to win the last few games, including against Hikaru, or he'd be relegated from the league and have to start all over in the preliminaries next year. Nonetheless, Hikaru showed no mercy and beat the crap out of him. After the game, Waya could only stare at the board and think, "_I've never seen such ruthless eyes from him before. He used to hold back and not beat me badly whenever I'm playing badly, just how strong can this guy get?_"

Next came another Insei friend, Isumi 7-dan, who was significantly stronger than Waya, and played solid moves, thanks to his "special training" in some exotic location. (He doesn't just go to China, you know.) Hikaru thought, "_I don't care whether he went to Tibet or India this time for his training, no one's gonna stop me getting four titles. Sorry, Isumi-san!_" In the end, Hikaru beat Isumi so badly that he had to go to some foreign country in the southern hemisphere to strengthen his skills again.

Finally came the hardest, Yashiro Kiyoharu 9-dan, who participated in the Japan-Korea-China Junior Tournament with him and Akira. The last time he played him in an official game was in the preliminary to that tournament, and Hikaru narrowly won. Hikaru thought, "_Yashiro is gonna be a tough one, second to Touya and myself for my age, but I heard he's a part-time stock broker as well, thanks to his parents nagging him on getting a 'proper job'. It's amazing he's still regarded as a top player, but I'm gonna beat him so bad that he'll want to be a full time stock broker!" Another indescribable intense battle ensues and Hikaru forces Yashiro to lose 11 stones in the process, making him surrender and concentrate on Wall Street for one year instead of Go tournaments._

  Thus, by July, Hikaru had clinched the challenger spot for the Meijin tournament, despite having two more games left. At the same time, Hikaru had beaten Kurata 4-2 in the best of seven series of the Honinbo finals and successfully defended his other title.

In August, Hikaru faced Ochi Kousuke 8-dan in the final of the Oza tournament, the winner would get to challenge Touya for the title. Ochi said defiantly, "This time I WILL beat you and have Touya Akira acknowledge me as his rival when I face him in the final."

Hikaru smirked and thought to himself, "_Too bad, I know you're strong, but to put yourself on Touya's level is really making me laugh. I'm gonna have to send you to the bathroom." As Hikaru predicted, Ochi got up and went straight to the bathroom without saying a word._

And so Hikaru got to challenge Akira on both the Meijin and Oza titles. At the same moment, Akira won the Gosei title to make his total tally of titles to four.

Currently, the title holders are as follows:

Kisei: Akira

Meijin: Akira

Honinbo: Hikaru

Judan: Hikaru

Tengen: Unknown

Oza: Akira

Gosei: Akira

   Summer passed and autumn arrived, Hikaru received a call from the Go Association.

**Spokesman:** "Some of our sponsors have decided to stage a special one-off game for charity, titled 'Match of the Century', in which you and Touya-sensei will participate. Touya-sensei has already agreed to the match. The match will take place on December 25th, which will clash with game 5 of the Oza final. Would you wish to request a change of date?"

Hikaru immediately answered, "Yes, of course, please!"

Spokesman: "Then there's a date available at December 20th, is that OK with you?"

Hikaru: "_Why did it have to be on that date? But it's better than nothing. _Yes, that's fine. _Here I come, Touya!_"

Spokesman: "Then I'll contact Touya-sensei and see if he could agree right away."

Hikaru: "Hang on, where's this 'Match of the Century' gonna take place in?"

Spokesman: "Tokyo City Hall, it's going to be shown live in Korea and China as well."

A sense of gloom fell on Hikaru's head, "_Oh my god! If I lose any of those two titles, then I will have to wear nothing but tight leather underwear in front of Touya…and in on live satellite TV. Even Hong Su-yeong is gonna look down on me for the rest of my life!"_

As Hikaru was contemplating these thoughts, the culprit of this all, Kishimoto, was watching a news announcement of the "Match of the Century" in his home, "Hehehe…Back then Touya Akira would selfishly request to be third-captain in order to play you, Shindo. I wonder how he would react if he sees the person he is most obsessed with dressed in nothing but a tight pair of briefs, hehehe…" 

_To be continued…_

Appendix: Dates of Go Tournaments Hikaru participated in this story so far

January-February:

Kisei: Final Game 1-5

Meijin: League

Judan: Playoffs

March:

Kisei: Final Game 6-7 (lost title to Akira)

Meijin: League

Judan: Final Game 1-2

Oza: Playoffs

April:

Meijin: League

Judan: Final Game 3-5 (won title from Ogata)

Oza: Playoffs

May-July:

Meijin: League

Honinbo: Final 1-7

Oza: Playoffs

August: 

Meijin: League (clinched challenger spot, finals in September-November)

Oza: Playoffs (clinched challenger spot, finals in October-December)

(Akira won the Gosei title, in which the finals took place between July-August)


	4. The Great Escape

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go is the copyright of Hotta Yumi and Obata Takeshi, Shueisha and TV Tokyo. This is a fanfiction and is not to be used for commercial purposes

**Hikaru's Student**

By Ching Mak (ching_mak@hotmail.com)

Translated and edited by Kinny Riddle 

Beta-read by Hieronymus (hieronymus@sbcglobal.net) 

Translator's foreword: This fanfic is translated with permission from the Chinese fanfic by Ching Mak. If you can read Chinese, I strongly recommend you to read the original fanfic found at his website. His website contains various hilarious Hikaru no Go and Hunter X Hunter fanfics and fancomics. Special thanks to Hieronymus on translating this story.

**Notes:** Italics are used for thoughts and sound effects.

**Chapter 4: The Great Escape******

Two months later…late November__

  Akira was alone in his bedroom that morning, sobbing to himself, "_(Sob!) Why?! Shindo used to be so cute and happy-happy, now he has such a mean attitude. He was so ruthless in yesterday's game, even his eyes were scary! (Sob!) Why???!!!_"

Akira's mother knocked on his door, "Akira-san, your father has asked you to come down to play Go with him, did you forget already?"

Akira frowned, "_Geez he sure is annoying, can't he see that I'm not in the mood to play?_"

  When Akira went into his father's study, Touya Koyou started to discuss the last game of the Meijin final the previous day. "You know how people used to just call me 'Touya Meijin', as for now, when people say 'Touya Meijin', they think of you, so whenever someone called me 'Touya Meijin', I can still joke and say, 'The present Touya Meijin is my son.' The Meijin title has become a birthright of the Touyas, and you had to let Shindo-kun snatch that away yesterday! How am I gonna joke with my neighbours?"

**Akira:** "Don't worry, father. I'll make sure to win the Tengen title next week, since Shindo has been eliminated in the early rounds of that competition."

**Touya Koyou:** "Well you'd better! Right now Shindo-kun has Meijin, Honinbo and Judan, while you are level with him on Kisei, Oza and Gosei. The Oza final takes place together with the Tengen final, you'd better not let Shindo-kun snatch another title from you, (you're trailing him 1-2 now) or it'll be difficult for you to re-establish your place in the Go world, not to mention I'll give you a big screwing."

**Akira:** "_Dammit! This old geezer is applying pressure on me! I never wanted to lose a second title to Shindo anyway, I don't need your damn advice!"_

Later that afternoon, Akira and Ogata were discussing Hikaru's tactics in the Judan and Meijin finals during Touya Koyou's study session. 

Ogata asked, "What do you think of Shindo's sudden change?"

**Akira:** "He seemed to get rid of his 'sai' style, occasionally playing Kurata's style and sometimes he would place stones where I would normally have placed."

**Ogata:** "Exactly! Shindo's play is influenced by 'sai', whose styles are archaic to the modern player and seem harmless, yet it is deadly if one is not careful. Kurata is famous for adapting his play according to who his opponent is. While Touya-sensei's style, which we are used with, presses the opponent hard and not giving him a chance to strike back. The amazing thing about Shindo is that he has managed to merged these three completely different styles together to create a completely new style of play."

**Akira:** "There's got to be a way to beat this combined style of Shindo's during the Oza finals."

**Ogata:** "The only way would have to be to do the same as him."

**Akira:** "It's not easy giving up your own style and learning someone else's playing style and then combining then all together in a short time, you know."

**Ogata:** "We'll just have to use all the time we have to practice while we still can. Come! I'll try playing using Kurata's style, while you imagine you're 'sai'."

  One week later, Hikaru and Akira faced each other in game four of the Oza finals in the Yuugen Room. Before the game, Hikaru said to Akira, "Touya, I'm going to have to take this Oza title no matter what!" Akira replied, "I can give you anything (_including my body and soul! (heart)), but not this title!"_

  After a gruelling six hours, Akira won the game by three and a half moku, and the series was tied 2-2. Hikaru could only stare at the board stunned, knowing that he had to win the last game in order to win the bet.

  As Hikaru returned home that day, he studied the kifus for Akira's Tengen matches and was amazed by what he saw. "_This style, it's completely like the style he used in today's game! It's basically my combined style, only that it's much stronger! Damn! That Touya must have trained the style day and night with top players like his old man and Ogata-sensei, while I can only play against average Insei friends."_

At that moment, a mailman came with a package. After sending the mailman off, the phone started ringing simultaneously, Hikaru picked it up, only to hear a sinister voice saying, "I hope you've received my Christmas present! Don't you want to open it?" This sinister voice was none other than Kishimoto's. Hikaru opened the package and revealed, to his horror, a super small-sized pair of leather underwear. "I'm looking forward to the day when you would perform striptease in front of Touya Akira, how I'd like to see him nosebleed! Mwa-hahahaha!!! I'm so excited! Anyway, I'll be looking forward to the 'Match of the Century'!" A cold sweat fell over Hikaru's forehead, he had started to regret promising such a terrible deal with Kishimoto, and as he thought of having to play semi-naked in front of Akira, his face went incredibly red, and he just fainted.

  Another week later, Akira won the Tengen title with ease. Right then, all the major titles were  split evenly between Touya Akira with four titles and Shindo Hikaru with three, and the rivalry of the "Twin Dragons" had become the legend of the Go world.

  As Akira celebrated with others in the study session on his fourth title later that night, Akira's mother shouted, "Akira-san, it's your phone!" Akira simply shrugged her off, saying, "Tell him I'll call him tomorrow."

**Akira's mom:** "It's from Shindo-kun."

Upon hearing Hikaru's name, Akira rushed out of his room and grabbed the phone from his mother faster than the speed of sound. Yet when he spoke, he reverted to his cool exterior again and said, "Yes? What do you want? _Oh I'm so happy! Shindo actually came and called!"_

Hikaru on the other end said, "Well…listen Touya! You gotta do this favor for me! I heard that game five of the Oza finals will start at 2.00pm as usual. I was wondering if you could agree to have the game begin earlier at, like say, 10.00am?"

**Akira:** "If I'm not mistaken, for some reason, you had specifically requested this game to be moved earlier to this date, and now you want this game to end as early as possible, am I right? What do I get out of this if I agree?"

**Hikaru:** "Well, I could intentionally lose to you in that 'Match of the Century', you know how this game is going to be shown live nationwide in Japan, Korea and China? Not to mention the commentator is gonna say something bad about the loser, which would not look good on the Touya family's reputation, does it?"

Akira thought vainly, "_Hmm, he does have a point in that._" And said, "Very well! I'll agree, but on one condition, I want you to play striptease in front of me on that day!"

Hikaru immediately blushed, "WHAT?! You…you're kidding right? Haha…"

**Akira:** "All right, if you don't want that, then here's another condition for you besides from losing the 'Match of the Century', in the final match of the Oza final, I want you to place your first stone on 1-1, no matter whether you're using black or white."

Hikaru exclaimed, "1-1?! What kind of lunatic would place his first move there? Even a beginner wouldn't do that!"

Akira said coolly, "Then I guess we're done. Goodbye!"  Just as he's about to place the phone down, he heard Hikaru shouting, "WAIT!"

Akira held the phone up again, "Yes? You changed your mind?"

Hikaru gritted his teeth and agreed, "OK! I'll place the first stone at 1-1!"

  December 20th had finally arrived, that morning, Hikaru arrived at the Go Association to find Kishimoto and Sae waiting for him outside. Kishimoto smiled smugly at Hikaru, "Good morning! I hope you didn't forget our agreement! If you want to fulfill my conditions, the you have got to win by 8.00pm tonight! I'll be watching."

Hikaru replied with a grim face, "Just you wait! I will become Sae's tutor by tonight!" he then kneeled and patted Sae's head, "And besides, as long as she's here cheering for me, I don't feel like losing." 

Sae smiled and said, "You can do it! Shindo-nisan!"

Hikaru also smiled and stood up, "Follow me, I'll have the staff arrange you to watch the game from the TV room."

Akira was already in the TV room waiting for Hikaru to arrive, and upon seeing two people entering behind him, he exclaimed, "It's Kishimoto-kun! And, aren't you that first captain from my junior high school, Kaio? _No wonder the name Kishimoto rings a bell. So he's the father of that girl in the 'pedophile incident'." Kishimoto said sarcastically, "Wow! I'm surprised you actually remembered me! _Damn you Touya Akira, if it weren't for you, Youri (Hidaka, his wife) wouldn't have become an ardent fan of yours. Every time she drives me crazy just mentioning your name! I'm making an exception and support you today!"__

  Hikaru was wondering how on earth would Akira recognize Sae, while Akira had a feeling that Hikaru's request to move the game earlier had something to do with this girl. As the game was about to begin, both Hikaru and Akira headed to the Yuugen Room, while Sae and Kishimoto sat down. At that time Ogata and Kurata also arrived to watch the game. Ogata said to Kurata, "Want to bet on this game? It's another habit I learned from that old monkey Kuwabara." 

**Kurata:** "Well, I'm gonna have to put my money on Touya, this time. You betting for Shindo?"

**Ogata:** "Then I'm afraid this bet could not take place, since I'm rooting for Akira-kun, of course!"

At this time, Sae suddenly shouted, "I will bet for Shindo-nisan! Dad! Lend me 2000 yen!" It was too late for Kishimoto to refuse Sae, and he could only sigh at the loss of 2000 yen.

After nigiri*, Hikaru ended up with white and was dismayed. "_Giving black to Touya is already disadvantageous enough, but to place my first move at 1-1 is like giving him a two stone handicap. But if I don't do as Touya says, he might request this game to be delayed till 1.00pm. Guess I had no choice…" He picked up a white stone and placed it at right at the top left-hand corner, 1-1. Everyone was amazed at this move._

Ogata shouted, "What on earth is he thinking? Who would place a stone there on his first move? Even my bastard son wouldn't do that!"

Kurata scratched his head, "This must be some kind of strange tactics that I have not heard of."

Only Kishimoto guessed the reason behind Hikaru's move, "_So he went this far just to have Touya agree to have this game moved as early as possible. But it is too high a price to pay, heh-heh-heh… "_

Akira smirked and slowly placed a stone. _Pachi! _Hikaru instantly placed another stone on the board. Akira at first didn't notice anything strange and placed another stone. _Pachi! Another white stone had landed on the board. It went on for quite a few hands, where Hikaru would place a stone the moment after Akira placed his, just like he did in Hiroshima when searching for Sai many years ago._

**Ogata:** "Isn't Shindo-kun playing a bit too fast? Is he trying to disrupt Akira-kun's pace? Even if he uses Akira-kun's thinking time to think, this is still suicide! It's a title match! For goodness sake! Not a regular speed Go against some old man in the Go Salon!"

Akira also noticed something wrong with Hikaru's swift moves, "_He requested the game to be moved earlier so that he could finish it as early as possible. Looks like he's really in a hurry. Maybe I'll try tormenting him…heh-heh…"_

As the game progressed, Hikaru grew more and more impatient, "_Damn this Touya, at the beginning he spent like 15 minutes for one move, as the game gets more complicated, he's using up to half an hour to think! Is he doing this intentionally just to torment me?!" But as the game moved on, even Hikaru was forced to spend up to 15 minutes thinking for his moves and he gradually slowed down._

As the clock ticked to 7.00pm, the game had entered yose* and Akira was leading by about seven and a half moku. Hikaru grew more anxious, "_There's no time! I gotta calm down!" However, Akira would not relent, and Hikaru made a fatal error, in which Akira moved the gap to 15.5 moku. The game was apparently over, with no possible chance of comeback for Hikaru. Akira began to stand up and wait for Hikaru to surrender. The people in the TV room also got up to congratulate Akira, but Hikaru did not surrender, he stared at the board with sweat all over his face and placed another stone._

Akira frowned and sat down again, thinking, "_What are you doing, Shindo? There's too big of a gap for you to come back. Aren't you ashamed of yourself?_" The same thing was being said by Kurata, who yelled, "Shindo! Do you even know the honor of being a top player? This is too outrageous! Lemme go, Ogata-sensei! I'm gonna beat the crap out of that kid!" 

Hikaru continued to struggle for another 45 minutes, and the gap was widened to 25.5 moku. Still, Hikaru refused to surrender, even the game recorder and Weekly Go reporter were starting to get annoyed.

**Hikaru:** "_I can't! I can't! I don't wanna play striptease, not least in front of Touya! There's got to be a way to make Touya lose. If only I could control Touya's hand and have him place stones where I want, or have him place a stone in the wrong position and place it somewhere else after letting it go, just like Isumi-san did in the pro-exams, or have him place two stones consecutively by mistake…wait a minute!" Hikaru at once thought of his Go Club in Haze Junior High, where Mitani once tricked Tsutsui into placing two stones consecutively. He looked at the board and calculated quickly, "__I can place a move at 16-17, and Touya will still come and try to kill my cluster on 5-5 and will not pay attention to 16-17, but right now, I'm playing Touya, not Tsutsui. Touya would be completely concentrated on the board all the time, there's no way I escape his notice. If only I can distract him for one second when making the fake move, no, a tenth of a second!" He looked around and saw a cup of tea, which he seldom used, and had a brilliant idea._

  Hikaru started putting his plan into practice, and played a few stones to get Akira focused on Hikaru's cluster around 5-5. Then just as Hikaru was about to place his stone on 16-17, he nudged his right arm and spilled the teacup. At that moment, Akira's eyes went from Hikaru's hand to the spilled teacup, Hikaru used this chance to immediately hide the stone under his index and little fingers, and carrying another stone in his left hand, struck the side of the board. _Pachi! The movement was so seamless that even Mitani would be envious._

As Akira moved his eyes back on the board, he noticed Hikaru had finished making his move, so without bothering to check, since that last move was useless against him, he placed a stone on 5-5 instantly. At this moment, Hikaru stood up and shouted, "YES! Touya placed two stones consecutively, so I won by default!"

  At this moment, Ogata didn't bother stopping Kurata anymore, they both rushed into the Yuugen Room, and with the game recorder and Weekly Go reporter, went and beat the crap out of Hikaru, literally. Kishimoto also joined the party, using his baseball bat (which he brought along, just in case). As for Akira, he was completely petrified and could only stare at the board, devoid of speech. If you did not know about Hikaru's situation, you would have thought Hikaru to be a sado-masochist, as you can see him getting beat up by a pulp amid screams of "You sonovabitch!" and "Mother f***er!", and laughing loud at the same time. 

No matter how many times you look at the TV replay of the game, you can see Hikaru's hand hovered over 16-17 and went back without placing a stone. Since there are no rules forbidding players from hitting the side of the board with a stone, or spilling a teacup, or hovering your hand over the board and then takeing it back, the Go Association had no choice but to award the Oza title to Hikaru. And so Hikaru had successfully won four titles by December 20th and fulfilled Kishimoto's conditions, and officially became Sae's tutor, much to the chagrin of Kishimoto.

_The End_

Notes:

Nigiri - process determining which player uses black or white stones

Yose - endgame 

Appendix: Dates of Go Tournaments Hikaru participated in this story

September:

Meijin: Final Game 1-2

October:

Meijin: Final Game 3-5

Oza: Final Game 1

November:

Meijin: Final Game 6-7 (Hikaru wins title from Akira)

Oza: Final Game 2-3

(Akira participated in the Tengen finals)

December:

Oza: Final Game 4-5

(Akira won in Tengen finals)


End file.
